Fuel strip

[deilenberger]

I just purchased a new R1200R Classic and the Fuel Strip failed at 25 miles. I drove by the dealer yesterday because I was unaware of this problem. His response, "It has been a problem with previous years but I'm VERY surprised to see it on your bike." He offered to replace it immediately or wait until the 600 mile check-up. I plan to wait for the 600 mile service.

I've always relied on my trip odometer on my R1150R so I'll continue with that method.

Rick

The reason I'm riding a black with white stripes instead of gunmetal gray is - the gray one crapped out on the test ride..

Go figure. And since BMW has changed nothing in the strips for the 2012 R12R - it's no surprise to me that it failed.

[slowtorque]

So, what do you fellas mean by failure? My 2010 R12R has been slow to restore Miles to Empty upon refilling. I mean really slow, and it just gradually adjusts upward. This morning, it is stuck on 46 miles to empty after my full refill. The fuel gauge however shows a full tank. Stuck on 46 miles, though. Is this a fuel strip failure? Is there more to come? What is the suggested course of action: live with it or get warranty replacement (which should also be reasonably expected to fail)?

[deilenberger]

The miles to empty will only recalculate as you start riding. Note also - on some of the hexhead models, the manual suggests resetting the MPG readout whenever filling up to get a more accurate miles until empty. For some reason the R12R manual (at least mine) doesn't mention that, but I think it's just an oversight on BMW's manual writers part.

[slowtorque]

Thanks. I rode 30 miles and it had not budged from 46 miles to empty. Will try reset of mpg. Not sure I have even seen that. I could do without these features, for sure.

[Mg1200R]

I just replied to the other topic on this as well.
Picked my brand new bike up this week, filled it up.
Fuel gauge reads empty. Spoke to dealer and they are ordering
A new one. So basically it's not working from day 1.
What a poo. To follow on from an already tedious buying experience
To look forward to this bull%€£t for the next 3 years and on,
So far while the bike has been running ok I haven't been
Blown away by it being fabulous. I'm really disappointed.

[deilenberger]

Blown away by it being fabulous. I'm really disappointed.

You'll get used to it..

[Mg1200R]

Hi Don. Thanks for your reply. I noticed you are also on the Bmwmoa site. While there I
also noticed the run of fuel strip issues seem to extend geographically as well as accross
Different models. One of the guys there said what about a class action suit.
Not that I really think something like that would have any success and I think it's
overly adversarial but I was wondering whether an email campaign like a form letter or something
that can be sent to various BMW dealerships or head offices or whatever regarding a better resolution to things like the fuel strip issue than the current one.
Anyway as a BMW stallwhart I just thought I'd ask.
Ps: the new bikes charms are starting to make themselves more apparent.
Cheers
Mark

[deilenberger]

Hi Don. Thanks for your reply. I noticed you are also on the Bmwmoa site. While there I
also noticed the run of fuel strip issues seem to extend geographically as well as accross
Different models. One of the guys there said what about a class action suit.
Not that I really think something like that would have any success and I think it's
overly adversarial but I was wondering whether an email campaign like a form letter or something
that can be sent to various BMW dealerships or head offices or whatever regarding a better resolution to things like the fuel strip issue than the current one.
Anyway as a BMW stallwhart I just thought I'd ask.
Ps: the new bikes charms are starting to make themselves more apparent.
Cheers
Mark

Hi Mark,

Once in a great while BMW reacts to mass-pressure, like an email campaign or a particularly active thread on a forum. They do know about these since they have a team (as any smart manufacturer does) monitoring forums for mentions of their products. They have stepped in quietly on a one on one basis to fix especially egregious problems.

The MOA isn't going to initiate anything - they don't see that as their purview, and I pretty much agree with them.

For a class-action suit to be started you have to find a BMW riding attorney, or figure out how a firm specializing in this sort of thing can profit from it (and they typically make the most profit out of these suits.) Sending letters to the dealerships is likely a dead end, the dealer might show it to their regional rep, but that's about where it would die. Sending it to the officers of Motorrad US might mean someone will see it - but I doubt if it would be the person it was sent to.

What really works - magazine mentions of a problem. That's how the EWS issue on the '06-'07 models was resolved. Enough magazines started talking about it (Motorcycle Consumer News especially, perhaps due to a discussion I had at a rally, with a number of drinks involved, with Fred Rau, who ran the magazine) and next thing you know, the price of the replacement EWS ring dropped from several hundred $$ to $35.. and a service campaign was initiated to solve the problem. It was solved, so it shows that it CAN happen with the right impetus. If BMW thinks they'll lose sales over an issue, chances are good they'll address it. It's a greed/profit motive.

YMMV,

[Mg1200R]

Yes I'm inclined to agree with everything you've said. What surprises me most ( but probably
shouldn't when I think about it) is just how brazen and indifferent BMW seems prepared to
be when such issues arise. It seems as thoug there are quite a few similar
problems that permeate the motorrad lineup that BMW point blank refuse to acknowledge, I assume for legal reasons. I'm also aware of the argument that the fuel sensor is merely one malfunctioning feature of an overall device that works as it supposed to. Ultimatlely though it is the principal of the issue that it is manufactured with one and the reputation of the company is such that it should work.
I like the bike and enjoy riding it but it's charms do not have me sufficiently enamoured to ignore the irritating site of a constantly empty fuel gauge on a new bike. At this point I'm certainly not going to recommend BMW to anybody else and frankly from what I'm reading ( too late it turns out) on forums I think BMW owners and those considering buying one have the right to expect that the reputation BMW cultivates should actually be reflected in the quality of its products as well as its ethos. If this was a safety issue there would be a recall and the bike would be fixed but because it's a functionality issue it's not. Ultimately it's incredibly disappointing because when you buy a BMW you should be entitled to feel like you can expect more ( your certainly paying for it) not less.
Cheers
Mark

[deilenberger]

Mark,

There was an interesting article in Fortune magazine (someone sent me the link) a few weeks ago about how do the German luxury car makers still manage to sell a record number of cars for prices higher then most anything else when they actually have some real QC problems.

Answer was - primarily the driving experience, followed by the prestige of owning one, followed by the high price (which seemed odd - but apparently it's a form of bragging that you CAN afford an unreliable expensive car.. I've proven this since I have a driveway full of BMWs and a Porsche.. )

I think BMW bikes are much the same thing. When it works right - the R1200R is a very satisfying bike to ride. I'm sure there are other satisfying bikes to ride, but I don't know of any that have the package like the R1200R of being a tool for all jobs - good for hooliganism and for touring, or whatever you want to do with it.

I also generally like the people who ride BMWs. Not so much HD owners, not so much young Japanese bike owners (although as usual - that is a generalization, subject to individual exceptions.) And I like BMW organizations and their events.

So that's why I continue to ride their bikes. Would I buy a new one? In a heartbeat - a brand new R1200R, with ASC this time. And in red. But $$ keeps me from doing that, plus my promise to myself that I was going to try to wear this one out (which is different from QC problems.. as far as longevity, it's hard to beat most German vehicles. That's probably because of long-term parts availability.)

A case of YMMV.. and as I said - to really get BMWs attention for a problem, magazine articles/letters that point out flaws that might cost them sales will do that. No one gets a bonus for fixing a problem, unless it helps sales. And sales is what all production companies live on.

BTW - a friend (Tom Cutter) with a long history with BMW bikes once had the theory that the reason things aren't fixed in a timely manner at BMW is because their engineers don't want to embarrass their engineering colleagues by pointing out a flawed design. So nothing gets fixed until the engineer who designed it retires. Given the amount of time it's taken for some fixes to work their way through BMWs system, I think he may be onto something.